Conflict, Change and Social Relations in a Costa Rican Border Village: An Ethnographic Study of Delta, Costa Rica Chelsea Good Abbas Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2020 © 2020 Chelsea Good Abbas All Rights Reserved Abstract Conflict, Change and Social Relations in a Costa Rican Border Village: An Ethnographic Study of Delta, Costa Rica Chelsea Good Abbas This research examined the political narratives of national leaders regarding an international border dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua from 2010-2015 and the subsequent social relations in an affected border village known as Delta, Costa Rica. Based on eighteen months of qualitative and quantitative ethnographic research conducted on the binational border, this work documents political discourses about the conflicted territory, referred to as Isla Calero or Isla Portillos, through first-hand interviews with national figures and military officials central to the conflict. These discourses are then juxtaposed to the lived realities in the village through an ethnographic analysis of social relations and community happenings amid this conflict. Particular attention is paid to the patrón-peon relationship between Costa Rican farm owners and Nicaraguan migrant workers, and how this relation exists in the midst of an unprecedented influx of police, military personnel , and security infrastructure beginning in 2010. To accomplish this goal, the first section of this work provides a detailed report of the rapid changes and security developments that took place in the community of Delta, Costa Rica. An analysis of the different political discourses and narratives to justify these rapid actions follows. The local reality of how this conflict was experienced by villagers of Delta, Costa Rica comprises the second half of this work in the form of an ethnographic account of the social relations and daily interactions between landowners, migrant workers , and the National Police in the border community. The findings highlight the disconnect between national-level political narratives and local experiences of conflict and how a transborder identity supersedes constructed barriers based on nationality, race, ethnicity, language, and even notions of (il)legality. Table of Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ vi Dedication ............................................................................................................................. viii I. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem .....................................................................................................2 Research Questions ..............................................................................................................6 Methodology .....................................................................................................................6 Entering the Field .....................................................................................................7 Establishing Rapport ................................................................................................9 Data Collection Techniques ...................................................................................14 On Community.......................................................................................................16 Anthropology of Frontiers/Borderlands .................................................................20 II: THE NATIONAL CONTEXT ..................................................................................................26 CHAPTER 2: CONFLICT-DRIVEN CHANGE...........................................................................28 “It Was a War Project” ......................................................................................................30 A Road With No Bridges ...................................................................................................33 Limited Bus Service ...........................................................................................................41 Let There Be Light .............................................................................................................43 Cross-Border Emergency Medical Service ........................................................................46 The Potable Water Challenge ............................................................................................55 A School With No Water ...................................................................................................58 i CHAPTER 3: POLITICAL NARRATIVES AND THE (RE)-MAKING OF AN INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT...................................................................................................66 Edén Pastora aka Comandente Cero ..................................................................................66 Tierra de Nadie ......................................................................................................70 President Luis Guillermo Solís (2014-2018), a Costa Rican Narrative .............................87 If Calero Goes, It All Goes ....................................................................................89 Discovery and the Colonial Period ........................................................................91 The (Non)-Role of Narcotráfico in the Dispute ..................................................101 III. THE LOCAL SETTING ........................................................................................................108 CHAPTER 4: THE COMMUNITY ............................................................................................108 Geography ........................................................................................................................108 Physical Layout ................................................................................................................112 Demographics of the Population ......................................................................................114 Housing ............................................................................................................................114 CHAPTER 5: THE SOCIAL SCENE IN DELTA, COSTA RICA ............................................119 Los Patróns ......................................................................................................................119 Status ....................................................................................................................122 Los Peones .......................................................................................................................125 La Policia .........................................................................................................................128 Inter-group Relations .......................................................................................................131 Patrón-Peon Relations .........................................................................................132 ii Chapter 5 (continued) Police-Civilian Relations .....................................................................................138 Police-Migrant Relations .....................................................................................144 A humanitarian focus in policing ................................................................144 Police (non)action with migrant population ...............................................150 CHAPTER 6: COMMUNITY ACTION—THE GRAN CABALGATA .......................................159 Organizing the Event .......................................................................................................159 Building the Galerón .......................................................................................................168 Resources .........................................................................................................................172 Noche de Baile .................................................................................................................176 The Main Event................................................................................................................186 IV: CONCLUSION .....................................................................................................................193 For Further Research........................................................................................................206 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................208 APPENDIX A: A Timeline of the Isla Calero Dispute ...............................................................211 APPENDIX B: Maps ...................................................................................................................213 iii List of Figures Figure 1 The Nicaraguan and Costa Rican publications ....................................................................5 2 An informant’s hand-drawn map .......................................................................................18